Act 1

Taming of the Shrew Act 1 and 2 main points

- Lucentio falls in love with Bianca

- Bianca can’t marry until her Katherina does and no suitors can see her, only tutors.

- Lucentio disguises himself as a tutor to see Bianca.

-   Tranio disguises himself as Lucentio so that Lucentio’s absence won’t be noticed.
-   Petruchio wants marry someone with a large dowry.
-   Hortensio suggests Katherina for a wife for Petruchio.

- Petruchio decides to tame the shrew
- Baptista settles the dowry for his daughters weddings.
- Petruchio and Kate meet for the first time.

Setting
Taming of the Shrew is set in Padua which is a city in northern Italy. Shakespeare strategically set his play in Padua to support the idea of romance. Similar to how films set in Rome tend to be romantic, during the Elizabethan era anywhere in Italy was seen as a place of love.
In this sense, the setting tells Shakespeare's audience that this story will be a romantic one.

Prato Della Valle, Padua

Characters and their relationships

Character Profiles

Katherina Minola

Eldest daughter of Baptista Minola and older sister of sweet Bianca. She is bad tempered, rebllious and violent making her the Shrew. Katherina hates he younger sister mainly because Bianca is her fathers favourite daughter. Despite being a Shrew, her family is rich and therefore she has a very large dowry. So Petruchio decides to court and tame her. As the play progresses she is slowly tamed and eventually falls in love and marries Petruchio.

Bianca Minola

Daughter of Baptista and younger sister of Katherina. She is the ideal Elizabethan Woman of her time. She is feminine, well-mannered and submissive. She has many suitors. However she father will not allow her to marry until her older sister Katherina is married.Baptista

Baptista Minola

Father of Katherina and Bianca. He wants and believes that Katherina should be married before Bianca. He allows Petruchio to marry Katherina, and also accepts the dowry from Tranio, disguised as Lucentio for Bianca.

Petruchio

He is an arrogant man from Verona who came to Padua to 'wive and wed' a woman with a large dowry. He doesn't care who it is and after his friend, Hortensio suggests Katherina for a wife he begins to court and tame her.

Lucentio

A rich young man, from Pisa, visiting Padua to study at the university. However after seeing Bianca he immediately falls in love with her. Due to this, Lucentio disguises himself as Cambio a tutor in hopes of tutoring Bianca and winning her heart. He eventually marries Bianca.

Hortensio

Suitor to Bianca. Teams up with Gremimo to find Katherina a husband. Disguises himself as Litio a music tutor to get into the house. He is also friends with Petruchio and is the one who tells Petruchio about Katherina.

Gremio

Suitor to Bianca. He teams up with Hortensio to find Katherina a husband. He also is the one who hires Lucentio disguised as Cambio to be a tutor for Bianca.

Tranio

Servant and friend of Lucentio. He is trust worthy and reliable. When Lucentio disguises himself as a tutor, Cambio. Tranio disguises himself as Lucentio to replace him. He convinces Baptista Minola to allow "Lucentio" to marry Bianca by promising a dowry he doesn't have.

Bionidello

Another Servant of Lucentio

Grumio
Servant of Petruchio

Act 1 and 2